If clause

Question

When if-clause is not a conditional one?

RandomGuy · Accepted Answer

AnonymousWhen is an if-clause is not a conditional one?

When if doesn’t have conditional meaning and functions as a marker of subordination for a closed interrogative subordinate clause (or a closed indirect question), as in I don’t know if they’ll show up. In such clauses if is often replaceable by whether.

Anonymous · Answer

Aspara Gus AnonymousWhen is an if-clause is not a conditional one?When if doesn’t have conditional meaning and functions as a marker of subordination for a closed interrogative subordinate clause (or a closed indirect question), as in I don’t know if they’ll show up. In such clauses if is often replaceable by whether.

Thanks for the reply and the correction. I've got my native-tongue syntax structures firmly embedded at the back of my head that constantly interfere with English word order. And, again, the determiners, totally absent in my language, are the ones which I lose in writing (speaking isn't my strong skill) and the reason is that I can communicate gender and case, in my mother tongue, with much more developed declension and conjugation than it is in English.

If clause

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions